For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12: 12-13

Over the years I’ve had the good fortune of working with ministries on five continents. We all have different views on some things, but we are all working together for the common good for a common goal.

If you are a true follower of Christ then you are connected to every other person who is trusting in and following Christ. Yes, I am Captain Obvious, but how many of us kind of get lost in our own little corner of the world from time to time and forget about the larger picture of Christianity?

Denominations sometimes get in the way. Social status. Ethnicity. Language. What else can be a barrier to the health of the one body of Christ?

Paul tells us that all of us are of the same standing, whether we are “Jews or Greeks, slaves or free.” I want to be careful here because many identify as “Christian” when there is no real commitment to Christ. With that in mind, American, Japanese, Israeli, German, Iranian, or Iraqi – we form one body. Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Baptist or Methodist – true followers are part of one body. I think you get the idea.

I think the graphic in the header of this page provides a good representation of how the body is made up of people from all walks of life. Tomorrow we’ll begin discussing the roles we play and we will be reminded that there are All working together for the One.